Satire in the common sense comes from people like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert who mock the government and the idiotic way they try to get things done, using comedy and sarcasm . This form of rhetoric is by no means a modern invention. Satire dates back to the Greeks and perhaps even before them. Perhaps human's first sentence was satirical. The first Roman to critically discuss satire was Quintilian, who invented the term to describe the writings of Lucilius. The satire we use today can trace its origins to poets and writers such as Juvenal, Horace, and Apuleius. The satire in their work is much broader than in the modern sense of the term, including fantastic and very colorful humorous writing with little or no real mocking intent. Roman satire was a very important literary device that played an important role in their history that shaped writings for generations to come. The oldest dated Roman satirist is Gaius Lucilius. His works are so old that only fragments remain. He was born in 160 BC as a Roman citizen of the equestrian class. Surprisingly, given that his work is the oldest, Lucilius' poems have no Greek origins. His work was inspired by the development of indigenous dramatic entertainment. This form of entertainment came before the reintroduction of Greek drama. His satirical poems would focus on ridiculing the common way epic and tragic poems were created. In his works he used a vocabulary commonly used in the social conversations of educated men. He even used a few Greek words in his poems to imitate the language of his audience. Other topics covered by Lucilius included matters of daily life, politics, wars, the administration of justice, eating and drinking, mo...... middle of paper ...... the inhabitants believe that this tale may have been one of Apuleius's earliest works, before some of his more famous works, or towards the end of his life. They believe this was written to force aristocrats to see themselves as slaves or some of the poorest members of society. The Roman Empire had many great satirists throughout its history. Many of the previous authors shaped the genre for others to come. Their work may not have been popular at the time, but may have shown popularity later in time. These writers formed the genre of current satirists such as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Satire has come from history to the present day and will continue as long as human beings can express themselves. Roman satire was a very important literary device that played an important role in their history and shaped writings for generations to come.